Biography
A western swing outfit came together in 1934 and quickly secured a foothold through steady broadcasts over Station KVOO and engagements at Tulsa’s Playroom Ballroom. Its original roster listed Don Ivey on piano and guitar, Eldon Shamblin on guitar, Charlie Laughton on trumpet, Ray DeGeer on saxophone, and Harley Huggins handling lead vocals and guitar. Ivey, who had already worked with Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys, founded the group yet departed after clashing with KVOO’s Programme Director. Dave Edwards assumed leadership in 1937, after which Laughton, DeGeer, and Shamblin moved over to Wills. That December the remaining musicians—Huggins, Doc Eastwood on banjo, Darrell Jones on bass, Bud McDonald on guitar, Keith Payne on drums, Carl Rainwater on steel guitar, Guy Thompson and Louis Tierney on fiddles, and Mancel Tierney on piano—cut fifteen sides for Decca in Dallas without any brass. Although the project appeared under the name Dave Edwards And His Alabama Boys, Edwards himself was absent from the date and Huggins likewise stayed silent, leaving McDonald and Thompson to supply the vocals. Seven singles eventually reached the market, but mounting frustrations and internal friction dissolved the unit soon afterward, sending most of its personnel into the ranks of Bob Wills or Johnnie Lee Wills.